ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- France flew 38 of its soldiers home Monday after they were injured by rebel attacks in the northern region of the Ivory Coast, CNN reported.
The fighting began Saturday, breaking a 2003 cease-fire between the rebel-held north and government-controlled south. Nine French peacekeepers were killed
There were no plans to evacuate any of the rest of the 15,000 French nationals in the former French colony.
Some 600 soldiers and a riot police squadron have been sent as reinforcements and will be deployed in Abidjan neighborhoods in which French and other foreigners live, French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie told reporters.
The French retaliated against the Saturday attack by destroying two Russian-built Sukhoi 25 aircraft and three helicopters at Yamoussoukro Airport where the Ivory Coast government has based its operations against rebel movements.
Some 6,000 U.N. peacekeepers and 4,000 French soldiers are trying to keep the peace in the buffer zone between north and south.
